Touching
by BML Hillen-Keene
Summary: Korra had never seen two people touch so much. Bumi/Tahno father/son fic. Personal Headcannon
1. Chapter 1

Korra had never seen two people touch so much. She could never remember touching or being touched by her parents so often, not that she hadn't had her share of hugs, but as she got older and her training had become more intense a lot of the touches had sort of stopped.

But Bumi never stopped touching his son, it didn't matter who he was talking to, or what he was doing, there was always some part of him in contact, be it a friendly dig in the ribs, a warm hand pressed to his shoulders, a quick ruffle of the perfectly styled hair, a quick one arms hug for seemingly no reason, draping over him to steal something from his plate.

There had even been a moment when Bumi had left the table for a moment, and dropped an affectionate, but completely hilarious kiss to his sons forehead, so he didn't forget 'dear old dad loved him while he was gone'. It was met like all the other touches where, with a roll of grey eyes and a retaliatory swat that made Bumi laugh.

The thing was that this just looked so _unreal_ watching the quite possibly insane Commander Bumi, who she could sort of accept acting this way, given the way she'd seen Tenzin's kids act with each other, and how she'd observed Kya acting. But it was _Tahno_ that made her stare unbelievingly. If the fact that Tahno was _Bumi's_ son wasn't mind boggling all by itself, the fact that Tahno was perfectly comfortable with the touching, and didn't act at all how she had expected.

"Problem Uh-Vatar?" Tahno asked suddenly, letting her know she'd been caught staring.

"Uh… No…" she looked back at her plate and blushed.

Xxxx

Tenzin caught Korra's sudden blush and glanced across the table at his brother and nephew. He had long ago stopped noticing the odd behaviour between the two. Since Bumi had been a child he had always been affectionate, hugging everything that moved. Mother had often said he took after Uncle Sokka more than herself and Aang.

It had been no surprise therefore when he had a wife and child of his own that this had transferred to them (a fact Tenzin was glad of, because he could only take so much of his brother in one go). His wife, Fela, of the Swamp Tribe had been more than receptive to that particular quirk, as the whole Swamp tribe acted like just one huge family and behaved fairly similar.

When Fela had died Tenzin had worried that his brother's habit of touching everyone and anything would die with her (it surprised him that he knew he would miss it), he had withdrawn completely, holing himself up in their small house with his four year old son. But when the grief had passed he had returned much the same.

There were those who found it hard to see how Bumi and Tahno could be related, they looked so very different, behaved so very differently. Bumi drove Tenzin up the wall with his behaviour, and Tahno worried Tenzin greatly, more at the thought of what bad habits he would teach his younger cousins if left alone with them for too long. But Tenzin had only to see how Tahno touched others, a hand on Jinora's head when he spoke to her, a half hug when he was whispering plots in Ikki's ear, the way he would tuck Meelo under his arm just to annoy his little cousin, the way he took Pema's hand to guide her through a door instead of simply holding it open, or hugged Katara every single time he saw her, even if he'd left the room and returned after a minute.

He could see it in the way that he touched Bumi as much as Bumi touched him, nothing as obvious maybe, because really, no one was as obvious as Bumi. But it was there, when he caught hold of his father's elbow when they were standing beside each other, or swatted the older man's chest to make a point.

Yes, there were those who found it hard to see how they were related, but those people just didn't know how to look.

_Just a little head cannon._

_I have grown to love the idea of Bumi and Tahno as father and son, and the idea that when he's not playing up being an asshole, Tahno is very much a touchy, feely sort of guy who isn't afraid to show affection to the people he loves, most especially his family. And I just liked the idea of Bumi and Tahno just sort of causally being in each other's space, without really noticing they were doing it, and being all in everyone else's too, just because that is how they are._

_Ah well, like I said, personal head cannon. Hope you enjoyed._

_Disclaimer: I do not own, at all._


	2. Chapter 2

"Well, you gonna get yourself up there?" Bumi asked, his arm slung round his sons shoulders. Tahno had pressed himself against his side when Lin had knelt before Korra; he'd slung his arm around him when he'd tensed as Korra entered the Avatar state. When Lin stood and lifted the rocks around the platform he wondered why Tahno wasn't tearing out of his grip and racing up to where Korra was waiting.

Tahno shivered a little. "What if… What if it doesn't work?"

Closing his eyes Bumi turned them so that only he could see his son and cupped his face, tilting it so that he could study him. Tahno still had dark bags under his eyes, and his face was too pale and it was all too obvious how little he had been eating. He reminded Bumi of what he had looked like in the weeks after Fela had died, a part of him had been ripped away and he could never get it back.

He knew exactly how his son felt. He knew intimately how it felt to have his soul ripped to pieces.

"It will work." He said, quietly and with complete certainty.

Tahno locked eyes with him. "How… how can you be sure?" he asked softly. "What if it only works on _good _people Pa, what if it doesn't-"

Bumi's hands shifted to his sons shoulders and he gave him a small shake. "No more of that. Do you hear me Tahno. Now you are going to walk about there, and I promise you. It will work. Your grandfather wouldn't let it _not work_, do you understand."

Tahno looked so indecisive that Bumi just dragged him in for a hug, shooting a glare back over his shoulder when he heard someone snicker. Finally he felt his son square his shoulders and he let him go. He turned with him and kept his hand on him as long as he could until Tahno was out of his reach and was climbing onto the platform.

Though he trusted his father's spirit completely, he didn't think it hurt to send a quick prayer to Yue as well. He wasn't going to take chances, not with his son.

_Just a little extra scene, for no reason at all._


	3. Chapter 3

The interview had been stressful; he could see the strain of everything that had happened weighing hard on his nephew. Tenzin looked to Lin who gave him a nod before leaving, agreeing to leave them alone for as long as they needed.

"Have you written to your father?" he asked.

Tahno nodded slowly. "Yeah, sent him a letter this morning."

Tenzin wasn't sure exactly what to do, had Tahno been his child he would have had no problems gathering him up to comfort him, but Tahno was his grown nephew, and things were different because of that.

But studying him, Tenzin was quick to remember that Bumi was always quick to comfort his son, gathering the grown man to him as easily and naturally as he ever had when Tahno had been a child, and Tahno had never fought him; in fact, he seemed to take comfort in the familiar affection. Spurred on by these memories, Tenzin reached forward to rest a hand on Tahno's arm, which was resting on the table, only to be surprised by the speed at which Tahno jerked his arm back and away.

Tenzin sat back and waited, but Tahno said nothing, but there was a guilty expression creeping across his face and Tenzin wondered if maybe his own reaction to the younger mans-no, boy's, he seemed so much like a little boy now-displays of affection had garnered this reaction.

"You're welcome to come out to the Island." He tried instead. Tahno always enjoyed his visits to the Island, and he knew the children would be glad to have their cousin stay for a while, even with the current situation, and besides, Bumi would likely never forgive him if he didn't offer.

Tahno didn't look at him. "It's all right. I just… I'm gonna wait for dad to write back… see if it might be ok for me to stay with him for a while, on the ship… Besides, I wouldn't want to put the Uh-vatar off her training; you have enough to worry about with her there anyway. I'll be fine." The Tahno got up. "Are we done? Because I have… you know things to do."

Tenzin stood as well and moved close to his nephew and laid a hand on his shoulder, hoping to show support, and to somehow convince him to come back to the Island anyway. But Tahno's reaction stopped him, he recoiled as if burned and very quickly muttered his goodbyes and left.

Tenzin remained standing for a long time, looking at his hand. Never, not once in all the years he had been alive, had Tahno flinched like that. Tenzin closed his eyes and hoped his brother would write back soon, because he didn't think he was going to be able to get through to his nephew. Nothing he could say would convince him that it hadn't been his fault.


End file.
